8.10.2010

If you grew up in the '80s or '90s, you probably recognize this old school exercise trampoline, complete with brown vinyl pad. If you didn't have one of these, I'm sorry. Growing up with one of these was so much fun!

I'm not sure what happened with the one my parents owned, but my in-laws gave us theirs when Hero found it in their storage last December.

It's in really good shape, sturdy with only one of the black feet missing.

But if you turn it over, you can see that the pad is falling apart, exposing the filling. Hero soon found this stuff and was pulling it out in chunks. So I decided to make a new pad.

I used home deco/canvas type fabric in a fun orange and blue.

And while I was at it, I spray painted the legs to match.

Once I got them done, I thought, "Maybe it'd look better with black..." There may be a change in the future.

I used quilting batting for the center and some black cotton for the under side. No more orange padding pieces all over my house!

I used the zig-zag from the button hole feature on my machine to make the holes for the legs, and sewed on either side of each seam to reinforce it. Good thing, too because I made it fit really snug and the seams were put under a bit of stress!

I love the new bright colors and he loves that I've stopped pulling it apart...

If I was 2 and had the choice of jumping on a brown pleather trampoline or an awesome blue and orange one it would be a no-brainer! What a fun change! I love ideas that make stuff we've always had laying around suddenly more exciting to the kids.